Work session to
discuss the update of the County Priority List of Road Improvements and
the draft of VDOT’s Six-Year Construction Program.

STAFF CONTACT(S):

Tucker, Foley,
Graham, Benish, and Wade

LEGAL REVIEW:
NO

AGENDA DATE:

April 1, 2009

ACTION: INFORMATION: X

CONSENT AGENDA:

ACTION: INFORMATION:

ATTACHMENTS:
Yes

REVIEWED BY:

BACKGROUND:

The purpose of this work
session is to receive input from the Board of Supervisors on the County’s
Priority List of Secondary Road Improvements. The Planning Commission held a
work session (Attachment A) on the Priority List on October 21, 2008. Staff
delayed the Board of Supervisors’ work session to allow VDOT to finalize the
transportation budget.

Since the Planning Commission’s
review, VDOT has provided a more complete assessment of the upcoming budget and
projected funding for the six-year planning period. This executive summary
provides additional background/information regarding one possible change
proposed to the VDOT Six-Year Construction Program and possibly to the County’s
Priority List of Road Improvements.

Based on VDOT’s forecasted
statewide budget, there will be no allocations for paving of unpaved roads at
least through VDOT’s 2015 Fiscal Year. Last year, the Board directed that all
unpaved road funds be placed toward Dickerson Road, a project located within the
designated Development Area of Hollymead, until that project is complete. This
direction was, in part, in response to the Planning Commission’s recommendation
to focus road funds on projects within (or serving) the Development Areas, and
to deemphasize improvements in the Rural Area that might facilitate growth in
the RA.

Dickerson Road is a paving
project that includes replacing two bridges. Approximately $1.8 million in road
paving funds has previously been allocated to the Dickerson Road project. Since
there will be essentially no additional road paving funds available for
allocation over the next six years of the Plan, no new funds will be allocated
to this project in the foreseeable future. With a total cost for the project,
including replacing both bridges, of $12 million, this project cannot be
funded/constructed utilizing unpaved road funds. All available regular
construction funds available over the next six years are needed to fund higher
priority projects: Meadow Creek Parkway, Jarman’s Gap Road, and Georgetown Road
(and other maintenance projects). Based on these conditions, Dickerson Road
cannot be completed using the unpaved road funding, so the Board should consider
reallocating the $1.8 million now allocated to Dickerson Road to other
projects.

Staff would like direction on
possible use of these funds. Staff has identified the following possible
options:

Leave the funds allocated
to Dickerson Road. As noted above, project cost and inflation would erode
these funds over the years. Also, VDOT is not certain when additional funds
will be available to allocate to the project (an additional $10 million
would be needed to fully fund the project). Staff does not believe this is a
viable option because it is not an effective use of available funds ($1.8
million) during a period of limited funding.

Allocate funds to a regular
construction project (i.e., Meadow Creek Parkway, Jarman's Gap Road,
Georgetown Road, Proffit Road, or bridge projects). There is a negative
consequence in regards to future road paving fund allocations if this option
is pursued by the Board of Supervisors. Please find on Attachment B
correspondence from VDOT outlining the impact of using these funds for
non-paving projects. Essentially, the total miles of unpaved roads would be
reduced by seven (7) miles if $1.8 million in road paving funds is
reallocated to a non-road paving project. This would effectively reduce all
future allocations of road paving funds to the County. Such an action would
require a resolution by the Board of Supervisors.

All three strategic priority projects (Meadow Creek Parkway, Jarman’s Gap
Road, and Georgetown Road) are either now fully funded, or are anticipated to be
fully funded within the six-year planning period. The next project on the
Priority List, Proffit Road, will require substantially more funds than the
available $1.8 million. The next highest priority bridge projects (after
Advance Mills Bridge) are Dry Bridge and the Old Ballard Road Bridge. It
may be possible to make additional improvements to these bridge projects with
the $1.8 million, but it would require further evaluation by VDOT.

The funds could go toward
other road paving projects. However these paving projects may not be located
in the Development Areas. The only other unpaved road project in the
Development Area is Rio Mills Road, which is also too expensive to complete
with available funds. VDOT estimates that it would be able to pave
approximately six (6) miles of road with $1.8 million using the rural rustic
paving program. Staff continues to receive numerous inquiries concerning
paving projects. Staff has identified the next paving projects on the
Regular Paving Priority List and the Rural Rustic Road Priority List that
are options for the $1.8 million. Staff only listed the projects that the
$1.8 million could potentially fund. Staff has been informed by VDOT that a
majority of Doctors Crossing (Rt. 784) could be paved using rural rustic
road program guidelines. VDOT will be evaluating this road in detail to
determine precisely what sections can be done utilizing rural rustic road
guidelines.

Staff recommends reallocating
the use of the $1.8 million currently allocated to Dickerson Road to the Dry
Bridge or Old Ballard Road bridges (Option B). If it is not practical to use
these funds for bridge improvements, then the funds should be reallocated to
other paving projects, in particular, rural rustic paving projects (Option C).
This would utilize the funds for their original intended purpose (road
paving). If supported by the Board of Supervisors, staff will work with VDOT to
pave the roads in priority order.

Other Modifications:

Dickerson Road Bridges – Staff recommends thatthe two substandard
bridges on the Dickerson Road (over Jacobs Run and over the North Fork, Rivanna
River) be included on the Bridge Priority List, which is part of the County’s
Priority List of Road Improvements. The bridges were not previously included on
the Priority List because they were to be funded as part of the Dickerson Road
paving project. Staff will make this change to the County’s Bridge Priority
List for the upcoming public hearing.

Old Ivy Road and
Southern Parkway -- Staff recommends that Old Ivy Road and the Southern Parkway be
lowered in the County’s Priority List from their current priority of 6 and 7
respectively, to below the Hillsdale Drive project (currently priority 13). The
Sunset-Fontaine Avenue Connector Road, Hillsdale Drive Bridge and Road
Extension, and Priority Bridge Improvements are now seen as higher priority
projects. The MPO has recently recommended removing both of these projects from
the Financially Constrained Long Range Transportation Plan (and moved to the
“vision list” for unfunded projects).

VDOT Six Year Construction Program -- VDOT is currently working on
the final Construction Program for FY 2010-2015 which will include only viable
projects due to decreased state revenues estimates (this document will be
provided at the meeting). Therefore, projects such as Proffitt Road, Old Ivy
Road, and the Southern Parkway will not be shown in VDOT’s program.

BUDGET IMPACT:

The Six-Year Road Planning process establishes the County’s
priorities for the expenditure of State/VDOT secondary road construction funds.
Additionally, funding is already earmarked in the CIP for revenue and
transportation projects to match the Revenue Sharing Program funding request for
FY09.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

Staff recommends that the Board of Supervisors provide
comments on the County’s Priority List of Secondary Road Improvements and
schedule a public hearing for May 13, 2009.